Sep 5 2005
Shri Narendra Modi, Honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat today inaugurated the Cold Rolling complex of Essar Steel at its steel plant in Hazira, Gujarat. This 1.2 million tonne complex will make Essar a fully integrated producer of steel and enable the Company to offer downstream products with considerable value enhancement.
The company has built this facility at an extremely competitive cost of approx. Rs.1000 crore, which is below industry average for projects of similar size.
The inauguration of the complex by Shri Narendra Modi is recognition of the significance of this facility and the support of the Government of Gujarat to industrial development. Shri. Shashi Ruia, Chairman, Essar Group, said that the presence of the Chief Minister is a great motivator for the employees of Essar Steel. He added “This complex showcases the latest technology and will offer a wide range of value added, downstream products for both domestic and international markets. This is a significant milestone for us.”
Cold Rolling Complex
The manufacturing facility consists of two Pickling lines (capacity 1.4 MTPA), two Cold Rolling mills – a Reversing mill and a Tandem Cold mill (capacity 1.2 MTPA), two Galvanizing lines (capacity 0.5 MTPA), Batch Annealing Furnace (capacity 0.5 MTPA), skin-pass mill (capacity 1.0 MTPA). In addition, the Company has invested in finishing facilities that include slitting lines, cut to length lines and corrugation lines.
Besides, this investment in India’s first integrated Cold Rolling Complex and the only Tandem Mill on the Western coast will give Essar significant upstream and downstream advantages and enable it to customize its offerings to suit a wide range of demanding applications
The Complex symbolizes another milestone in Essar Steel’s participation in Gujarat’s Industrial progress. Essar Steel is today the largest totally integrated steel plant on the Western Coast of India and will become India’s largest producer of flat producer when it completes its expansion to 4.6 million tonnes by next year. The locational advantages of the port based facility and the availability of high quality Hot rolled products for the production of Cold
rolled and galvanized steel, are other factors that will give further impetus to the Company’s increased presence in international markets.
Benefits of Cold Rolling and its applications
The Cold Rolling process improves paint characteristics, coating quality and strength of steel. It also has excellent formability characteristics, hardness and enables close dimensional tolerances and improved flatness. These properties are essential requirements in industries with critical requirements, high quality and consistency.
Essar Steel is now in a position to offer specialized products tailor-made for critical applications in the Automotive, White Goods, Agricultural and Construction industries, which were hitherto being imported. These products match the best international standards and the Company’s clients include leaders in Indian and international industries. The company expects to gain a market share of 20% in the Cold Rolling segment in the country and it is expected that products from the CR complex will constitute over 40% of the company’s revenues going forward.
Typical applications for Essar Steel’s cold rolled products:
- Automotive and auto Components
- Bicycles and Components
- White goods like, Refrigerators, Air conditioners, Ice Boxes, Televisions
- Office and Household Furniture and Equipment
- Barrels, Drums, Buckets, tanks, Tubs, Bins and Containers, Agricultural Machinery and Equipment
- Doors Frames, Rolling Shutters, Formed sections, Roofing and Flooring
- Industrial Sheds
- Railway Coaches
- Electrical Stampings
- Packaging